Project LINK (Linking Individuals Not Known) offers free assistance to those searching for a loved one who has been missing for more than 30 days. The effort can help even if the person has been missing for decades.
For Project LINK, criminal analysts at BCI gather photos and other identifying information from family members of the missing person. Some of this information is posted at www.OhioAttorneyGeneral.gov/MissingPersons and other websites devoted to finding missing people. The analysts work with law enforcement to help search for the missing person and also facilitate DNA submissions from family members for analysis at BCI.
The DNA profiles are added to the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) so that they can be compared to DNA taken from unidentified remains from crime scenes, other potentially suspicious circumstances and coroners’ offices. As long as the case is open, the DNA is regularly checked against new DNA entered into the database.
If a match is made, law enforcement officers will contact the family.
The purpose of Project LINK is to provide the family with answers about what happened to their loved ones.